This invention is directed toward a device which provides buoyancy to objects with negative buoyancy in water. The invention comprises a water-sentitive trigger which when activated, causes a compressed gas to exit a canister and enter a balloon, which expands, thereby causing the object to float. There are two basic uses envisioned for the invention. First, the device can be attached to a negatively buoyant object, such as car keys or a windlass crank, which, if unsecured, can easily be lost over the side of a boat, such that hitting the water or sinking to a certain depth, the buoyancy device is activated and a balloon is filled with compressed gas which raises the object to the surface where the user can then easily and safely retrieve it. A second use of the device is for attachment to an already sunken object, where the device, when activated, will inflate a balloon, thereby causing the sunken object to float to the surface of the body of water in which it sank. There are two ways in which the invention can be used with an already sunken object: first, the device can be attached to the external surface of the object and inflated; second, the device can be secured inside a hold or other cavity of the object where, when inflated, it will not only supply buoyancy to lift the object, but also displace water which has filled the hold or cavity.
There are a number of variable characteristics, including canister size, trigger fuse length, balloon configuration, and housing material that allow a user tremendous flexibility in selecting a proper size of the invention for the user's intended purpose. Other iterations of the invention provide breathing air for underwater purposes and means of keeping cars, boats, airplanes, etc., floating when they fall into water.
Turning to the preferred embodiment of the invention, that of allowing a person to attach the device to non-buoyant objects likely to be lost overboard, one of the major problems facing boaters is the fact that there are many important unsecured objects on a boat which sink if dropped into the water. Common examples include keys, sunglasses, windlass cranks, various hand tools, anchors, and ropes. Once an object such as these, or any other object with negative buoyancy in water, falls into water, it will sink. In many cases, should the object be important, or, as in the case of keys to a boat's engine, essential to the safety of the excursion, the loss of an object would have catastrophic consequences.
Thus, there has existed for as long as humans have used boats on the water a need for a device which allows negatively buoyant objects to float on the water until the object can be retrieved.
The prior has several examples of attempts to resolve this problem. The most common is a plastic float which is usually attached to the negatively buoyant object by means of a keychain, such that if the object is dropped overboard the object will float. These floats, however, because they do not enlarge in size and volume with compressed air, must be large enough to float and object. Thus, as a practical matter they are limited to small objects such as keys; a plastic float large enough to keep a windless crank above water would have to be so large that it would be impractical to keep one attached to the windlass crank at all times.
Thus there has existed a long-felt need for a device which allows a user to attach a small, inexpensive, and lightweight device to a negatively buoyant object such that the object will not sink when it falls in water. The current invention provides just such a solution by having a device which provides buoyancy to objects with negative buoyancy in water. The invention comprises a water-sensitive trigger which, when activated, causes a compressed gas to exit a canister and enter a balloon, which expands, thereby causing the object to float upon the surface where the user can then easily and safely retrieve it. There are a number of variable characteristics, including canister size, trigger fuse length, balloon configuration, and housing material that allow a user tremendous flexibility in selecting a proper size of the invention for the user's intended purpose.
Another common problem relating to water occurs when an object sinks into a body of water and does not have a rope or other means of retrieval already attached to allow for easy retrieval. The object could be a solid object such as a boat anchor, or a larger object such as a car, truck, airplane, helicopter, train, or boat which fills with water and sinks. Recovering sunken boats and vehicles is extremely difficult, as the object, in addition to its substantial weight in metal and other negatively buoyant materials, has the additional weight of the water which fills each compartment, or hold, of the object. The main method by which sunken objects such as these are recovered is to attach a strong line to the sunken object, then try to lift the object back to the surface of whatever ocean, river, or lake it sunk into.
Thus, there has also existed a long-felt need for a device and method by which a small, solid sunken object or a large sunken object with holds or cavities can be brought back to the surface. The current invention provides such a solution by teaching an inflation device with a “long” fuse time and a tough balloon. One or more of the invention can be attached to a sunken object or inserted into the sunken object's hold or holds, either by SCUBA divers, submersibles, or remote control roving vehicles, and the long fuse allows sufficient time for the invention to be inserted. When the water finally eats through the long fuse, triggering the release of compressed gas, the balloon expands and either lifts the object to the surface or fills the hold, pushing out water and replacing the neutrally buoyant water with positively buoyant gas. If enough of the inflation devices are placed in the holds, eventually enough water will be forced out of the object and enough uncompressed gas will be trapped by the balloons inside the sunken object such that the object begins to float up to the surface on its own.
Another iteration of the invention calls for the invention to be manufactured such that it can be installed as part of the original manufacture in cars, trucks, helicopters, airplanes, trains, and boats, or retrofitted into existing objects, where the invention is located in all of the holds of a particular object. The purpose of the invention in this iteration is to provide a means of filling the holds before the water can completely fill the holds, and expelling that water which has already entered, thereby preventing the object from sinking.
For example, in an airplane the inventions could be positioned on the bottom of the cargo holds. If an airplane has to perform an emergency landing on a body of water, some water may begin to seep through into the cargo hold. Upon reaching the triggering devices, the water will set off the inflation process in which large balloons will very quickly fill to capacity, taking up all available space in the cargo holds and expelling the water that is already there. This would keep the airplane afloat for at least enough time for the passengers to evacuate safely.
Another example would be boats with holds. Had the Titanic had one of the inventions in each hold, the five holds which were initially damaged by the iceberg would have quickly been filled with a balloon rather than water, thereby, possibly keeping the boat afloat and at the very least given more passengers enough time to disembark safely. The invention is equally applicable to smaller boats, such as 20′–30′ sailboats, which have at least several holds that could be effectively turned into flotation chambers by the invention.
A final problem that has plagued many water sports enthusiasts is the basic fact that humans do not have gills. As such, when a human is kept underwater for longer than a couple of minutes, the human usually dies. In sports such as SCUBA diving, kayaking, and big wave surfing, such submersions happen occasionally. Another iteration of the invention provides breathing air for underwater purposes. In this iteration, the canister contains compressed air, suitable for breathing. The trigger can be depth-sensitive or pressure-sensitive such that the inflation mechanism is triggered when the user exceeds a certain depth or has enough water on top of him/her that the triggering mechanism actives the inflation mechanism at certain pressures. The trigger can also have a variable length of fuse such that if a user has been submerged for a certain period of time, the trigger mechanism is eaten through by the water and the balloon is inflated, thereby carrying the user to the surface of the water.